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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28305087">Pretend Play</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lori_yuy/pseuds/lori_yuy'>lori_yuy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas Eve, F/M, Flowers, Fluff, M/M, Pretending, Snow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:54:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28305087</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lori_yuy/pseuds/lori_yuy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aerith was upset that every single one of the Turks tells her that she's a princess but never treats her quite like one.  The one Turk special to her decides to do something about it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough/Tseng, Rufus Shinra/Tseng</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Pretend Play</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She kicked her feet, throwing the white powdery stuff around, a pout graced her features as she stared at the never ending white dust falling from the sky.  It's been snowing like this on and off the the entire week. The dreary gray weather made Midgar feel more cold and lonely during the holiday week.  She only had yellow lilies to sell today. The flowers covering the outside of her house was buried under the hefty weight of the snow and the only flowers available now were the ones that grew inside the church. She was hoping to get something nice for herself and her mom with the money from selling flowers, but with so few people walking along Sector 8 in this weather, it was beginning to look like she won't make anywhere near her target goal.</p><p>Earlier that morning, Rude had dropped by the house to wish her and Elmyra a Merry Christmas and dropped off a tin of gourmet tea blend which they promptly shared with the Turk, but Rude only had a cup of tea before excusing himself to leave for work. In the middle of the day, Reno had accompanied her while she was getting her afternoon flower sales ready.  She had only gotten laughed at and received a dismissive headpat when she got mad at Reno for "accidentally" stepping on some of the flowers near the edge of the flower bed. Those flowers could have been in her basket for sale now if he hadn't ruined them! Just thinking about it still made her mad. The red head needed to learn to have some respect for life that cannot speak for themselves.</p><p>She heaved a sigh, her breath turning into white puffs in the frigid weather as she glanced at the daylight slowly disappearing on the horizon. The sunset can only be seen on the upper plate.  The people living down in the slums have no idea what a sunset or even real daylight looks like. It even took her a long time to get used to it. The lights were turning on one by one in the business district. The street had been turned festive with colorful holiday lights decking every lamp post and multiple store fronts. There was a circle of lit trees in the fountain square that she could see from where she was. The entire place was festive minus the lack of people due to the snow. She glanced down at her basket. She's carried that basket up and down the plate for years now and it was showing signs of wear and tear. The yellow lilies were starting to shrivel up in the cold and she's only sold about a third of them.  Maybe she should just give up and spend the rest of the evening with her mom instead of wasting her time in the cold out here.</p><p>As she was about to pack up and leave she saw a large denomination of gil dangled over her head. She glanced up and captured the bill waving in the wind with her free hand and smiled when she saw the black leather gloves.</p><p>"Is this enough for the flowers?"</p><p>"And how many did you want?"</p><p>"The rest in the basket."</p><p>"Deal."</p><p>She handed him the entire basket.</p><p>"I'll bring the basket back to your house later."</p><p>She shrugged. It wasn't as if she really cared to have it back. It was breaking down either way. She stole a glance at him in his perfectly tailored suit, snowflakes dotting his long hair.</p><p>"Who are you giving them to?" His face showed the barest of smiles before he mouthed "it's a secret." She didn't know who exactly but she had an idea, it had to be someone important to Tseng.</p><p>"Wait! Are you just leaving me like this?" She hurried after him when he started walking back towards Sector 0. He slowed down and let her walk alongside him. "You know, Reno stepped on some of my flowers today."</p><p>"Oh did he?" Tseng's voice betrayed no emotion but Aerith saw a glow of concern flash across his eyes.</p><p>"And Rude gave mom and I tea!!"</p><p>"Hmm."</p><p>Aerith ran ahead of him and threw her arms around her waist before glancing up into his eyes. "You guys all say I'm your princess, but none of you ever really treat me like one!"</p><p>He stopped entirely and looked back at her, trying to decipher why she was moody all of a sudden. "And what exactly do you think being treated like a princess means?"</p><p>She pulled herself straight and he could practically see the thoughts running in her head. "Well, a princess should have a nice castle with her loyal subjects and all the delicious sweets in the world!" </p><p>She was still such an innocent girl at heart even while approaching her 20s. He took one of her hands into his to her surprise and pressed a kiss to the back of it gently. "Well Princess, I'm afraid your loyal subjects are too busy securing the kingdom right now. If you'll excuse me." She watched him retreat back towards Shinra tower and her face began to flush pink.</p><p> </p><p>~...~</p><p> </p><p>"You got flowers again?" Rufus's voice sounded from the other side of the room as he poked his head in, glancing at the yellow lilies in the crystal vase gracing the small table. He was still under house arrest and Tseng had done everything in his power to make the stay inside the Turks' HQ as comfortable as it can be.</p><p>"They're quite rare this time of the year, and especially in this weather." Tseng replied as he finished arranging them in the vase and began pouring a cup of water into it.</p><p>"What's it like outside today?" Rufus asked as he sat down at the table, absent-mindedly fingering the petals of the nearest flower.</p><p>"Snowy and cold. The ground's blanketed with snow. I'd guess at least about 2 to 3 feet of it." He also sat down and poured two cups of tea that he prepared, pushing one cup towards Rufus. "Rude bought this blend, it's quite good."</p><p>Rufus hummed as he took a sip of the warm liquid. A pleasant herbal flavor hit his tongue. "Well if I wasn't locked up in this god forbidden place, I'd be out there snowball fighting, or building a snow castle or something."</p><p>A snow castle. A snow castle. The thought echoed in Tseng's head. Why not? He had unfortunately tuned Rufus out as his thoughts took over and the next thing he knew Rufus was giving him the signature <em><strong>WTF Tseng(TM)</strong> </em>glare.</p><p>"I asked if you were doing anything else today?" Tseng quickly apologized for not paying attention and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was kind of late, definitely past dinner time already. <em>A snow castle.</em></p><p>"I.... had something I planned to do today yes." He replied hesitantly and Rufus gave him another look.</p><p>"Fine, just abandon me why don't you, but don't be surprised if you find your desk in a mess by the time you return." Rufus was joking of course, but Tseng could see the young VP acting up just to get a reaction out of him.</p><p>"I'll be back before morning." Tseng promised as he finished his tea and pushed himself out of the seat.</p><p> </p><p>~...~</p><p> </p><p>His hands were freezing even though he had gloves on. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea but he was hard-headed and determined, and Rufus had planted the idea solidly in his mind. He piled yet another block of snow onto his work in progress.  Several hours later, he was dreadfully tired and fell back into a pile of snow behind him. He was almost done. ALMOST. He glanced to the side where Aerith's flower basket laid, filled with several boxes of the best cookies one could buy in Midgar.</p><p>Aerith couldn't sleep. The thought of what happened during the day ran through her head. She sighed. Her mother used to make her fortresses and castles made of blankets over tables and made her feel like the most precious princess in the world.  Elmyra didn't do that but she never expected anything out of the kind elderly woman either. She missed her real mother. <em>A princess huh, stop pretending Aerith, you're nothing to the world. You're only something to Shinra.</em> Tears threatened to roll out of her eyes then and she bit her lips tightly. Maybe she needs to get out of the house and get some fresh air. These thoughts are too depressing.</p><p>The mountain of white stuff on top of the hill where her best flowers would have been caught her eyes as she walked out into the garden terrace. Was that a....??  She gasped when she saw the pile of black next to it. She ran towards him. "TSENG!" He sat up in alarm at her panicked voice. "Tseng are you okay?"</p><p>He nodded at her semi-dumbfoundedly. Did he fall asleep in the snow? Oh shit his project wasn't even done and she was already looking at it.  She grabbed his hands, numb from working the piles of snow for hours. A miniature snow castle that was about 90% complete stood next to him, but her eyes were focused on his bruised and freezing hands.  She pulled his gloves off and blew on them to warm them up. "Do you want some hot tea? A hot bath? You're going to die out here in the cold." She stopped when he just smiled at her.</p><p>"No Princess, I need to finish building your castle." She scoffed at him but then her expression turned soft.</p><p>"...idiot...." He thought he heard it but it was barely a whisper. She piled several blocks of snow to finish what he didn't as he watched and then he handed her the basket.  He could swear he saw a tear roll down her eyes as she opened the first box and the sound of the cookie crunched in between her teeth. She would tell him she was sniffling because it was cold outside.  When she finally turned to face him she had a glint in her eyes. "You're my loyal subject tonight?"</p><p>"Yes Princess."</p><p>"You'll do my bidding?"</p><p>"Yes Princess."</p><p>"Kiss me." She could see his hesitation. "Will you not?"</p><p>He slowly brought a hand up to cup her face, his fingers still icy cold. She clasped her own hand over his and pressed kisses to the bruised fingers. He felt them heal magically.</p><p>"Well?"</p><p>He closed the distance but only whispered something into her ears. "Sorry Princess, but your loyal subject is not so loyal. He also serves a Prince."</p><p>Oh. That's where the flowers were going. She looked at him again but smiled after awhile. "All is forgiven if your heart is truly with your prince."</p><p>He pulled her close then and pressed a peck to her cheek, his lips were warm against her skin. "You should go back inside and I should head back home before my Prince gets mad at me."</p><p>She agreed, pulling him in and also giving him a peck on his cheek before parting their ways. The snow castle stood brightly against the night in her garden terrace.  All was pretend play but her world was slightly better tonight.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Merry Christmas!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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